Problem: American passport w/ UK registered bike
 

Looking for personal experience here.

I'm an American but have a UK registered bike (which is in my name), and a New York and International Drivers License. The CAA says they can issue me a carnet, but will I be troubled with bureaucratic red-tape because of this discrepancy?

For example, someone told me this might be a problem in India, even if I have a carnet. Which got me thinking about other countries that use a carnet (Nepal, Pakistan on my route). Bureaucrats can be a crazy lot!

Customs handles vehicles (and checks Carnets etc)

Immigration handles passports/visa etc.

The (traffic) Police might be interested in your drivers licence. Neither Customs, nor Immigration care if you even have a DL.

As long as the name on the passport (whatever nationality) is the same as on the vehicle docs/Carnet, then Customs don't care.

Many people have different passports to the country of origin of their vehicles.

An aside: I once blew the mind of a Tennessee patrolman who pulled me for speeding in hicksville nowhere near Nashville: S Carolina car, Tennessee insurance, German DL and Brit passport, all in my name. He let me off :innocent:

You should have no issues. I have used an EU passport on a US reg bike and Irish drivers license all over Central America. Back in Europe I used my US passport, Irish reg bike and my US drivers license, just to complicate matters. Great when you get pulled over.

So, do you even need an IDL to drive all over Europe? If you do it thru Wheatwhacker for example.

It's better to have an IDL on you as it translates all the info to the language of the country you are in. You still need your original license on you person.